Romantic Affairs
by Clueless1229
Summary: There needs to be more pairings for these two. Her name isn’t even available! How did she not make the list? *sigh* oh well, enjoy this iteration of how a romance could build upon their second meeting. Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story.


There are many aspects of Ilium one is told to look out for when visiting it: shady business, mercs, and the fine print on most contracts. As Garrus had once warned Shepard, don't let the civilized nature of this place fool you, it's as crooked as Omega.

Honestly, this place gives him flashbacks of a certain frozen planet he visited during his days of hunting down a certain rogue Spectre. No doubt, other then the weather, everything else about Ilium wreaks of familiarity. As Shepard approached the stairs that would take him up to his old squadmate's office, he couldn't help but notice a pretty, familiar face nearby, belonging to none other than Gianna Parasini.

She seemed to have noticed him before he realized it was her, for he was immediately staring into her eyes, the same brown eyes he remembered before she told him she owed him a beer. With a small smile on his face, he figured now was as good a time as any to take her up on that offer. The smile on her face told him she would agree.

"You look good for a dead man, Shepard."

He takes a seat across from her.

"Eh, I got better. You look as good as ever, Gianna. How're you doing these days?"

"You know how it is with us, Shepard: never really an off-day." She glanced towards something to her right and inconspicuously wrote a note and left it under Shepard's beer. "Speaking of which, here's that beer I promised. You should take a good look at it."

As she walks away to another area, he sips the her and reads the note underneath.

_Sorry to leave so quickly. Almost blew my cover. I've been undercover, keeping an eye on Hermia, that Asari merchant over to your left. If you could help me by convincing her to reveal she has smuggled schematics, I'd greatly appreciate it. _

Shepard put the note into a pocket on his suit and cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "This will be too easy."

_*About 4 minutes later*_

To say that Gianna's laughter was infectious was an understatement. She and Shepard had been chuckling to themselves for a good two minutes over catching Hermia and her reaction. Gianna was the first to speak, now that they're seated back at their table.

"I love to see their uppity, long-lived asses taken down a peg. Being 300 doesn't mean you can get away with smuggling."

"I'm just glad to help out. Haven't had a good laugh like that since Anoleis. Smug bastard. Think I was happier seeing you drag him off."

"You sure you weren't just happy watching me walk away?" She asked this with a playful smile on her face while casually sipping her own beer.

Shepard smirked as he casually responded. "Well, I can't deny that one. I had to 'stand down' in more ways than one if you catch my drift."

Nearly snorting her beer out of her nose, she had to recover from the quite unexpected response. "Well you're definitely not easily flustered. What else is there to expect from the man known as Commander Shepard?" She fixed her eyes on him, a certain fondness radiating from her look. "So now it's my turn to ask...how have you been Shepard? What kind of Mission: Impossible are you up to these days?"

Normally Shepard would dodge a question like this one, but this is Parasini he's talking to here. Call it a hunch but he knew she had no intentions of passing on sensitive information.

"I could be better. Having a team made up of mostly psychopaths is one thing, but convincing them to fight for a cause bigger than themselves and gunning for the collectors? You'd think I lost MY mind."

"To be fair, the Council already painted you as someone who'd lost his mind when they made Sovereign out to be an advanced geth ship instead of an actual reaper."

"Yeah... they did. But other than all of that, things are going smoothly, ya know? Honestly just got better now that I'm talking to you and enjoying a beer."

"I never took you as the flirty type, Shepard... not that I mind at all," she said with a small shade of red on her cheeks, which Shepard made sure to take note of.

"I'm just being honest here. To be able to sit and talk with someone and to not have it be all about business... it's refreshing to say the least. As a bonus, it happens to be someone I didn't quite want to stop seeing."

Gianna decided to pull a bold move herself, and took Shepard by the hand. "Ok, I can't have you making all the moves here, smooth talker. Since we're being honest, I knew what I was asking for when I told you I'd buy you a beer two years ago. And I knew there was a good chance I may not be able to see you again due to how dangerous your mission was. But I always had hope."

Shepard didn't dare speak as she laid herself out for him, never breaking eye contact.

"When I heard you'd died, it was disheartening to say the least. It's not easy to get my attention; most men are intimidated I'm involved in Internal Affairs, not to mention my confidence. Surely you've noticed I'm not your average princess, even if I can rock a good dress."

"I second that," said Shepard, allowing her to chuckle at his playful demeanor while still keeping a firm hold on his hand.

"Thanks... you know what it's like to do a job so much and so well that it follows you? When visiting family, it's like I'm still in 'undercover' mode. It's almost like I sometimes forget who the real me actually is. Yet I'm here with you now and it's like I never lost touch with myself. It's something about you, Shepard. You bring out the best in everyone you encounter."

Shepard leaned in and gave Gianna's hand a squeeze, a gesture of gratitude for her sincere words.

"You're shooting me to the moon here. Does it really come as a surprise that out of all the people we encounter in our line of work, we caught each other's attention? Two people who could have forgotten what it's like to be themselves, but as soon as they meet it's like they didn't miss a beat with being who they are..."

"When you put it like that..."

He smirks. "Exactly...so here's my next question. The mutual attraction is obvious. Are we going to explore this further?"

"Hmm, good question. Thankfully I have a good answer for it." With that, Gianna stands up and walks to his side. She gently places her hand on his cheek, giving him a kiss on the lips that lingers for about 3 seconds. Enough to get the point across, but also enough to leave both wanting more. "You'll be seeing me again, Shepard. Hopefully when you're done with your current mission."

He nods to her and watches as she walks away.

He gets a message on his omni-tool as she goes out of sight.

From: Gianna

_Stand down. ;)_

"Hahaha! Oh yeah, I'll be seeing you again," he says to himself as he gets up and heads to Liara's office.


End file.
